Mothers to Stage a 'Nurse-In' at a Friendly's in Support of Breastfeeding at Restaurants

A group of moms are planning a "nursing demonstration" this weekend in protest of a Friendly's that allegedly asked a mother to stop breastfeeding her baby at the restaurant. According to WFSB, Tabitha Donohue is claiming that employees of a Friendly's in Norwich, Connecticut weren't so friendly to her and asked that she "cover up" while breastfeeding her baby at the restaurant. A manager also apparently asked her if "if she "thought she was offending anyone." Now, according to the Facebook event page for "Nurse-in at Friendlys in Norwich," 52 people have said they're going to the "nurse-in." The battle cry: "Nursing moms unite and stand against this injustice!" Organizers also explain on the page their reasons for staging the protest: "This isn't an event to expose ourselves, but to show those who don't understand, that nursing is natural, can be discreet, AND IS OUR RIGHT UNDER CONNECTICUT LAW!"

According to Connecticut State Law, an employee or owner of a public place cannot "limit the right of a mother to breast-feed her child." WFSB notes this means establishments are not allowed to "request that the mother stop breastfeeding her baby, cover up, move to a different room or area, or leave." The TV-station adds that Friendly's wrote in a statement that it "welcomes breastfeeding mothers in its establishments" but that in this case, Donohue's child was laying on the table while she was breastfeeding. The statement goes on the claim that the manager did not ask Donohue to "cover up" but instead went over to see if there was a better option to accommodate them."

The incident has left some mothers quite angry: An organizer of the "nurse-in" tells KFOR, "We do not need to cover up and we do not need to be moved to a restroom, which is you know if you're a nursing mother that's disgusting." The protest is happening this Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Friendly's where the incident took place. A few years ago, a group of women staged a similar protest at an McDonald's in Arizona after a mother was asked to leave the restaurant for breastfeeding her six-month old son. Go, watch the local news video:

Video: Norwich Mother Asked to Stop Breastfeeding at Local Eatery

· Norwich Mother Asked to Stop Breastfeeding at Local Eatery [WFSB]
· Nurse-in at Friendlys in Norwich [Facebook]
· Group of Moms Plan to Protest Restaurant with "Nursing Demonstration" [KFOR]
· All Friendly's Coverage on Eater [-E-]